Restoration to enhance using iZotope RX7 v7.01 and FabFilter Pro Q2 M/S EQ

"Why was Columbia Records releasing music from fascist Italy?"

As a collector of 78s, I can tell you that at least dozens, if not hundreds, of recordings of songs associated with the fascist regime were released in the United States and UK between 1922 and 1936. Giovanni Martinelli's recording of Giovinezza for the American Victor label was a big seller. Coming across these records provides an interesting lesson in how history is written and then rewritten to suit present needs.

Mussolini and the Italian fascist regime were for the most part regarded very positively in the inter-war years, including in the United States and UK. Winston Churchill himself was quite effusive in his praise of Mussolini, and figures as diverse as FDR and Gandhi also had positive things to say about the "Duce." This should not be too surprising - Italy was allied with the US, UK and France in WWI, while the Germans had been the enemy. And in fact Mussolini made it a top priority to build positive diplomatic ties with the anglophone world, especially after Hitler came to power in 1932.

The relationship between Italy and the UK went sour in mid-1935, when the British government signed the infamous Anglo-German Naval Treaty without consulting France or Italy. Mussolini was apparently apoplectic and decided in turn to invade Ethiopia, knowing that it would provoke sanctions from the UK and France, who had their own interests in Africa to protect. In late 1935 Carlo Buti's smash hit 'Faccetta nera' was also released in the US and UK on Columbia, but after this I think the record companies for the most part stopped putting out songs associated with the fascist regime, as Italy had now come to be regarded as a threat, especially after Mussolini's drift towards Hitler from mid-1936 onward.

I am struck that a party has a national hymn, and then also it is the fascists.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Fascist_Party

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giovinezza

Matched on Catalog number, Publisher, and person confirmed.
1927 (interpolated) is from https://archive.org/details/almostcomplete7800barr/page/115